Tamil Nadu Minister for Law, S Regupathy on Wednesday alleged that the Centre is delaying the appointment of the new Director General of Police (DGP) by insisting on its own list of candidates.
He said the state government had rejected the list as “unacceptable” and accused the Union government of trying to interfere in the state’s administrative matters.
“The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) did not consider the Tamil Nadu government’s recommendations and instead proposed officers of its choice,” Regupathy said in a statement from Chennai. He added that the state’s Chief Secretary has written to the UPSC explaining the government’s objections, and a reply is awaited.
“Since this list was not acceptable to the Tamil Nadu government, the Chief Secretary has written a letter to the UPSC fully explaining the reasons for it. While the answer has not been received, the Leader of the Opposition's reaction seemed like the proverbial saying that the wolf wept because the sheep were getting wet,” Regupathy was quoted as saying, according to a PTI report.
The minister also criticised AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami for blaming Chief Minister M K Stalin for not appointing a full-time DGP, calling it “political opportunism” ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.
AIADMK accuses DMK of ‘handpicking’ officer for political gain
Earlier, Palaniswami had accused the DMK government of deliberately delaying the appointment to “handpick” a DGP who would favour the ruling party during elections. He said the tenure of former DGP Shankar Jiwal ended on August 31, and despite the UPSC’s final list of three officers, no appointment has been made.
